Sari Botton – Never Can Say Goodbye

Sari Botton – Never Can Say Goodbye

Sari Botton has gathered essays by lovers of New York who describe how and why they fell in love with the Big Apple. Although alike in the topic and some reoccurring parallels, they are all unique and interesting to read. Some talk about the idea of New York they had before going there and what reality looked like, other are native New Yorkers who have always been there and perceived their town in a completely different way. What they all have in common is the love for this vibrating place where you never know what is waiting for you behind the next corner.

What I liked most was Whoopi Goldberg’s childhood memories, when growing up in an international environment because her friends’ parents were mainly immigrants coming from diverse European countries and cultivating their native languages and traditions. I’d assume that this is what makes New York outstanding from many other places; it is originally international and has thus created its very own flair. Adam Sternbergh provides metaphors which well illustrate how coming to NY feels. If you happen to date the most wanted boy or girl in school, the one you have always idolized, you run the risk of also seeing the flaws and getting a whole new picture of him/her. This is what coming to New York and living there means for many who arrive with great expectations. Elizabeth Gilbert’s account on her time as a bartender in the Coyote Ugly Saloon was by far the most entertaining of all the stories.

All in all, a very different look at New York absolutely worth reading.